For The Sake Of Family
by GhostMemories
Summary: Iris Kirk, Jim Kirk's older sister and the youngest admiral in Starfleet history, hides a dangerous secret. She is sent off to a mission to capture the rogue officer, John Harrison but she gets more than she bargained for with her trouble-magnet brother, war-seeking admiral and a mysterious rogue hell-bent on seeking revenge. Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek just my OC!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1. John Harrison**

**AN: This is my first fanfiction so go easy on me ok? Please review, I would love to hear from you guys out there! **

"Admiral Pike, this is Admiral Iris Kirk reporting, sir."

The man turned to face the elder Kirk that stood at his desk.

"Ahh Iris, are you wondering what is happening to Jim?"

An embarrassed smile came from Iris and she nodded meekly.

"He's grown up now but I still can't help it…he's still my little brother."

Admiral Pike smiled understandingly at her and transferred the report of the journey to her. She quickly scanned the documents of the captain's log of James 'Jim' T Kirk and a frown appeared as she read the report that Spock had submitted. _That little brother of mine…_ The senior admiral saw that her expression turning sour and chuckled.

"Don't worry, he's been demoted to First Officer but still under my care."

Iris' head shot up and saw the sly grin on his face. _Cunning old man_, she thought as she thanked him. Her smile disappeared when she thought of what she had to do next. More maintenances at the Io Facility.

The maintenance room was filled with doctor and scientists in white coats. It always made Iris uneasy seeing the equipment that looked too much like a death trap. _I supposed it is a trap in a twisted way_, she mused quietly. Admiral Marcus came in as the testing began. First the doctors asked her to do a variety of actions before scanning her and checking her vital signs. Then they asked her to lay down and the real inspection and maintenance began. When all that was done, her uniform was presented back to her and it was all she could do to prevent herself from running as fast as she can away from the room.

She was stopped by Admiral Marcus on her way out, a cold glance and an almost imperceptible nod made her fill with dread. It meant that she had another _assignment_ to complete. After exiting the hidden facility near Jupiter she was sent straight to the office of the admiral.

"We have lost track of a _rogue _officer. You will find him and you will detain him. All his details has been sent to your PADD, that is all."

As she turned to leave, the beeping sound of a message came from his communicator before hers began to beep as well. She hurriedly exited the room before glancing at the gadget.

_Admiral Iris Kirk, you are needed for an emergency meeting in the Starfleet HQ on regards to the destruction of the Kelvin Memorial Archive._

Admiral Marcus began to brief them on the deserter, Commander John Harrison, who had ordered this attack. Jim seemed to have noticed something wrong and Iris was immediately worried, her brother might have been rash at times but he wasn't stupid, on the contrary he was very observant and smart. The admiral seemed to have noticed the same. As Jim began to voice his thoughts, Iris noticed the distant humming sound of an aircraft coming closer. She tensed as it came closer and closer until its headlights and scanners shone through the glass and she pushed Jim down as the aircraft began to fire.

"Clear the room!"

Glass shattered and screams filled the air. Iris got up and ran through the shattered window without stopping. Landing on the head of the fighter she reached up and smashed the wind shield with a hidden knife in her uniform. The aircraft swerved and dipped as the fugitive tried to shake off the female admiral. The fighter was now firing blindly giving a chance for Jim to fire at the aircraft unaware that his sister was on board.

Finding the perfect time to jump Iris landed in the cockpit. The pilot seemed surprised before attacking. Iris and John fought over the controls of the aircraft, neither of them aware of the hose in the turbo rotor. The impact against the fighter caused a blast of flame in the back as it began to loose altitude. Iris saw her brother standing before a shattered window looking at her in horror but she had no time to react as the gold bands began to surround the two of them.

Jim stared at the spot where his sister and John Harrison had teleported from. The aircraft's engine exploded and the skeleton fell from its mid-air flight. All he could remember was the two pairs of eyes he had seen, the soft grey eyes of his sister and the ruthless icy blue of the rogue.

After being forcefully teleported, Iris found herself still clinging onto the collar to John Harrison's coat while black spots danced before her eyes before blacking out. When she finally came to, she was inside a cave and the coat she clung to was wrapped around her like a blanket. The stench of sulphur filled the air as she woke, she sat up quickly and glanced around. She was in a cave she could tell from the echoing rumbles of lightening. _Qo'noS_, all the things in the universe had not prepared her for the return to this place, the place where the nightmares were from.

"So you are part of the project _Ryke_?"

Iris stiffened before whirling around to the source of the voice and pinned them to the wall.

"How do you know that?"

"I myself have spent enough time in the Io Facility to know what goes about in it."

Suddenly their positions changed as Iris found herself pinned against the wall of the cave instead. Without thinking her leg shot up but was blocked by the perpetrator, it was enough distraction to let him loosen his grip for a second and she took the opportunity to slip from him. She realised that the coat that belonged to him and sheepishly handed it back to him.

"Sorry, bad habit I guess. Thanks for the coat though." She sighed before continuing.

"Yeah I'm project Ryke. You've got me at a disadvantage here, I don't think I've ever seen you there before, Mr Harrison."

"So you are their most powerful weapon against me." The man neither confirmed nor denied it but instead changed the subject which made Iris assume that she was right.

"What do you mean? You're just a normal human."

The commander stayed silent and Iris studied her hands. She understood from a glance at his eyes that he was just another pawn of Admiral Marcus and that snapped under the pressure. She couldn't judge him, she herself had thought about killing the admiral once and for all many times. Raising her head, she nearly jumped when she noticed how close he was and she silently scolded herself for being unaware of her surroundings. She was aware of the hypnotic blue eyes staring at her and the finely sculpted lips twisting into a small smile. His physique suggested frequent exercising and the powerful stance was of some used to commanding. _A warrior and a leader_,her mind read.

Suddenly, the sound of multiple engines rumbled from only a few hundred metres away. Both Iris and Harrison stiffened before running towards the place where the aircrafts seemed to have landed. When she reached a cliff that overlooked where the aircrafts landed she realised it was it was Jim and his crew. When she was about to jump down she was stopped by Harrison who tossed her a disrupter like his own. She turned on the disrupter and fired at the Klingon who was strangling Lieutenant Uhura.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2. Welcome Back

**AN: Ok, so apparently you can have a cover for your story so can anyone of you out there send me some pics that you think should be the cover, I'll give credit to the one who does and thank you all for reading! Enjoy chapter 2!**

The shot caught the attention of both the Klingons and the Starfleet and Klingons quickly surrounded them. Jim recognised the silhouette of his sister first as she fired another shot at an oncoming Klingon vessel. She jumped down and was followed by John.

When the last of the Klingons were killed, Harrison grabbed Iris and pointed a gun at her head. Jim, Uhura and Spock stared at him before the fugitive spoke.

"How many torpedoes?"

"Stand down. Stand down and release her!" Spock repeated raising his weapon before it was shot away from him.

"The torpedoes, the weapons you threatened me with your message. How many are there? Talk or I'll shoot her." The man threatened.

"72" Spock replied after a silence.

Harrison threw down his weapon and released Iris while standing proudly like a soldier.

"I surrender."

"On behalf of Christopher Pike, my friend. I accept your surrender."

Jim glared, his voice getting harder at the end signalling his anger. He strode up to Harrison and punched him again and again until he was winded but Harrison looked perfectly fine.

"Captain!" Uhura shouted, stopping him.

"Captain." John repeated processing the information.

"Jim, what do you mean _on behalf of Christopher Pike_?" Iris asked her brother while Spock cuffed Harrison.

"He was killed in the meeting when that bastard," Jim glared at Harrison, "came at us."

"Spock, gimme a sec with him."

Iris stood her voice barely above a whisper but was still heard clearly above the thunder and the rushing winds and her tone chilled Spock to the bones even though it was mostly directed at their prisoner. Even Jim stiffened a bit at her tone. Spock stepped away from Harrison as Iris approached. Suddenly Iris grabbed him by the throat by one hand and slammed him to the ground her other hand grabbed his arm and began to slowly crush the bone, a crack rang through the compound as the bone broke. The muscles around Harrison's eyes tightened by a minuscule.

"Harm anyone of my family and friends, and there will be something far worse than hell to pay." Her voice was dead cold and all signs of the kind and smiling older sister was replaced by a cold dangerous admiral of her rank.

She stood up and looked towards the Starfleet crew finding their shocked expressions very amusing especially the stunned expression on Spock and shrugged at the group.

"What? I had bad days too!"

Aboard the USS Enterprise Iris was welcomed abroad while everyone was curious what the elder Kirk was like. They were quick astounded to find her quite mild mannered even though she retained the same Kirk humour that everyone was used to. She ran off before Jim had time to contact Bones for a check-up on his sister telling him that she would be watching the prisoner.

Iris stood before the trig studying the captive intently as if trying to remember him from somewhere and was about to speak when the trio consisting of Jim, Spock and Bones entered. Bones opened a hatch instructing Harrison to put his arm through the hole to take a blood sample. As Bones takes a blood sample Harrison spoke.

"Why aren't we moving, captain? An unexpected malfunction, perhaps in your warp core conveniently stranding you on the edge of Klingon space?"

This caught Bones' attention.

"How the hell do you know that?"

"Bones." Came the warning voice of the captain.

"I think you can find my insight valuable, captain."

Bones finish extracting the blood and closed the hatch. He then turned to Jim and Spock.

"We good?" Jim asked.

"Yeah." Bones nodded.

"Let me know what you find. And find Iris for a check-up."

Admiral Iris had disappeared the second the trio walked in and was now nowhere to be found. Bones groaned in frustration whenever a Kirk was forced to do something they do their best to escape, every time he arrived at one place Iris was in another, playing hide and seek with him. Bones finally decided to call Jim and declared he gave up and Iris instantly appeared in front of him, grinning like a kid showing him her pearly whites. Bones groaned and raised his hands in surrender good naturedly and she disappeared again not before giving him kiss on the cheek and declaring victory to Jim.

Iris arrived on the brig and dismissed the guard from duty saying she will take responsibility.

"Why are you here?" The cold voice of John Harrison asked.

"Making friends with the enemy."

"Why?"

"I'm bored."

A flicker of amusement danced in his eyes before disappearing just as quickly.

"So you think seeking out the most dangerous being on this ship is wise?"

"You know what I am, I'd like to know what you are and what you said to Jim."

"I told him the coordinates of the Io Facility and to take a look at the torpedoes."

"He brought torpedoes abroad the ship!? Urgh, that brother of mine."

Iris reached for her communicator and called Jim.

"James Tiberius Kirk, why are there torpedoes on broad an exploration ship and where's Scotty? He would be livid from this!"

She heard a sigh from the other end and listened with growing concern as he told her he fired Scotty because he had refused to have torpedoes on-board. He was currently redeeming himself by having Scotty investigate the coordinates that Harrison had given him and opening one of the torpedoes. She ended the call with a sigh shooting an apologetic look to Harrison.

"So Captain Kirk is your brother?"

"Yup, the troublesome little brother who's always getting into a mess one way or another."

"You are part of the senior command Starfleet." The cold seeped back into his voice again.

"Admiral Iris Kirk at you service."

Just as Harrison pursed his lips to speak, he was interrupted again by Bones entering the brig suddenly and grabbed Iris.

"Your brother needs some talk to, he's going to open a damn torpedo!"

With that Iris and Dr McCoy ran out of the brig leaving an extremely frustrated commander in his cell.

"Are you out of your corn-fed mind? You're not actually gonna listen to this guy? He killed Pike, he almost killed you, and now you think it's a good idea to pop open a torpedo because he dared you to." The doctor had cornered Jim with Spock and was currently in a sour mood.

"Why did he save our lives, Bones?" Jim asked.

"The doctor does have a point, Captain." Spock added.

"Don't agree with me Spock. It make me very uncomfortable."

Iris chuckled quietly in the corner watching Dr McCoy pacing around with an unnerved expression.

"Perhaps you too, should learn how to govern your emotion, Doctor." Spock shot back. "In this situation, logic dictates…"

"Logic? Oh, my god! There's a maniac trying to make is blow up our own damn ship and…" Bones interrupted him.

"That's not it. I don't know why he surrendered, but that's not it. Look we're going to open a torpedo and the question is how." Jim began pacing as well.

"But, Jim, without Mr Scott on board, who exactly is qualified to just pop open a four-ton stick of dynamite?" Bones asked.

"The admiral's daughter appeared to have interest in the torpedoes and she is a weapons specialist. Perhaps she could be of some use." Spock stated surprising everyone.

"Admiral's daughter?" Iris finally decided to cut in.

"Carol Marcus. The new science officer, concealed her identity to board the ship."

"When were you going to tell me that?" Jim asked.

"When it became relevant. As it just did." Spock stated with a straight face.

Jim sped off to contact Carol about the torpedoes leaving Iris on the bridge. She was about to leave when she was stopped by Bones.

"Welcome back, Iris." Bones said before going back to his station.

The other crew members murmured their agreement at the girl who was once part of them.

"It's good to be back." She replied and smiled.

Her cabin was exactly how she had left it. Old photos of Jim and their parents on the night stand, her old uniform hung in the closet and a snow globe from an antique shop that caught her eye. She listened through the conversation on the bridge and was heading to the bridge the second the torpedo commenced detonation sequence.

"Admiral Kirk on the bridge."

"Carol, pull out the core. Now!" Iris' commanding voice travelled through the communicator.

Carol did as she was told and the torpedo deactivated making the crew sigh with relief.

"Dr McCoy, you alright?" Iris asked.

There was no response.

"Bones." Jim asked again.

"Jim, Iris? You're going to want to see this." Bones' voice came through.

"It's quite clever actually. This fuel container's been removed from the torpedo and retrofitted to hide this cryotube." Carol Marcus announced when the Kirk siblings walked in.

"Is he alive?" Jim asked in disbelief.

"He's alive. But if we try to revive him without the proper sequencing, it could kill him. This technology is beyond me." Bones answered looking baffled.

"How advanced, doctor?" Spock questioned.

"It's not advanced, cryotubes were made back in the Eugenics Wars, if I remember correctly." Iris looked in fascination at the old relic.

Bones nodded in agreement. "We haven't needed to freeze anyone since we developed warp capability, which explains the most interesting thing about our friend here. He's 300 years old."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Project Ryke

The group hurried to the brig where Harrison was held eager to find out how he knew about the torpedos. They found him sitting calmly on the seat as if awaiting their presence.

"Why is there a man in that torpedo?" Jim asked.

"There are men and women in all those torpedoes, Captain. I put then there."

The three outside shared a glance.

"Who the hell are you?"

"A remnant of a time long past. Genetically engineered to be superior so as to lead others to peace in a world at war. But we were condemned as criminals, forced into exile. For centuries we slept, hoping when we awoke, things would be different. But as a result of the destruction of Vulcan, your Starfleet began to aggressively search distant quadrants of space. My ship was found adrift. I alone was revived."

"I had a look at your file, John Harrison did not exist until a year ago." Iris remembered the file Marcus gave her.

"John Harrison was a fiction created the moment I was awoken by your Admiral Marcus to help him advance his cause." The prisoner stood and faced Iris.

"A smokescreen to conceal my true identity. My name is Khan." He watched as understanding flickered in the young admiral's eyes.

"Why would a Starfleet Admiral ask a 300-year-old frozen man for help?" Jim asked oblivious the look shared between them.

"Because I am better."

"At what?"

"Everything. Alexander Marcus needed to respond to an uncivilized threat in a civilized time and for that, he needed a warrior's mind. My mind. To design weapons and warships."

"You are suggesting the admiral violated every regulation he vowed to uphold just because he wanted to exploit your intellect."

"He wanted to exploit my savagery. Intellect is useless alone in a fight, Mr Spock. You…you can't even break a rule. How are you expected to break bone? Marcus used me to design weapons. To help him realize his vision of a militarized Starfleet. And you don't even realise the weapon in your midst." No one but Khan noticed the young admiral stiffen slightly.

"He sent you to use those weapons. To fire my torpedoes on an unsuspecting planet. And then he purposely crippled your ship in enemy space, leading to one inevitable outcome. The Klingons would come searching for whomever was responsible, and you would have no chance of escape. Marcus, would finally have the war he talked about. The war he always wanted, but you already know that don't you _Admiral _Kirk?"

Jim and Spock turned to find Iris glaring at Khan before sighing and raised her hands in mock surrender.

"I was right then, you too are a pawn in that bastard's game." Iris sounded defeated.

"Iris?" Jim asked confused as to how his kind older sister was involved in this conspiracy.

"So is that why you opened fire at the Starfleet headquarters?" Iris asked quickly changing the subject.

"Marcus took my crew away from me." Khan angrily answered.

"You are a murder!" Jim exclaimed distract from Iris.

"He used my friends to control me. I tried to smuggle them to safety in the very weapons I had designed, but I was discovered. I had no choice but to escape alone. And when I did, I had every reason to suspect that Marcus had killed every single one of the people I hold most dear. So I responded in kind. My crew is my family Kirk, is there anything you would not do for your family?"

Jim glanced towards Iris seeing the unshed tears in her eyes and a small sad smile hanging on her lips. She seemed tired and resigned more than any time Jim had seen her. It made her look far more older then she was and Jim wondered briefly what had been the cause of it.

"Proximity alert, sir! There's a ship at warp heading right for us." A voice interrupted.

"Klingons?"

"At warp? No kirk, we both know who it is." Khan said his tone chilling calm.

Jim was about to leave to the brig when he noticed Iris wasn't following him.

"I'll be there in a second." Iris said and the younger Kirk shrugged and left her alone.

"I need your help." She turned to Khan.

"I do not make friends with the enemy."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. You're not the only one with a grudge against Marcus." Iris fiddled with her fingers.

"And why is that?"

"He threatened and used my brother, my only family left and as I had told you before no one hurts my family."

"So what do you want me to _help_ you with?"

"As you know I'm Ryke, a human who had a robotic core making them near invincible like you but with no free will. When Admiral Marcus sees both Carol and I he's going to beam us abroad the USS Vengeance. James will no doubt pursue after us and in need of an officer with advanced hand-to-hand combat skills and knowledge of the ship, you. Stop me from killing Jim and the crew and I will give you Marcus and you crew. Do we have a deal?"

Khan thought for a second and nodded.

"Deal."

Before going to the bridge Iris took a slight detour to where the torpedoes were. Watching the live broadcast while going back and forth between the cryotubes and teleporter, almost tripping over one of them when the ship was attacked by the USS Vengeance and blasted a hole where she was working.

"Oh for god's sake!"

Iris growled before pressing the teleport button and all 72 cryotubes were beamed safely to a safe place. The rest of the empty torpedoes were sucked out into space.

She finally arrived on the bridge just in time to see Carol pleading with her father.

"Admiral Kirk on the bridge."

"Ahh Ryke, you are here as well." Marcus said as she came in.

The entire crew abroad the deck looked to see only Iris come in and confusion spread. Gold light surrounded both Iris and Carol and they were beamed forcefully abroad the USS Vengeance.

Carol started shouting at her father only to be stopped by the screams at the entrance of the bridge. Iris stood there, surrounded by the bodies of the group that had just escorted Carol in. There were blood stains on her uniform as she walked into the light.

Marcus switched his weapon to kill and shot Iris who crumbled to the ground.

"Don't worry, she won't be doing anything from now on." Marcus assured the rest of his crew.

"Dad? You just killed Iris!"

"She's fine, out for a while but she'll survive." Marcus said absentmindedly as one of the crew cuffed her.

"Funny since you never cared about the well being of others." Iris had woken up again.

"I saved you." Marcus said as if talking to a child.

"And forcing me to become a pawn."

"It saved your life."

"I didn't want to become like this."

"Then you would die, therefor useless. I chose you because you were a fighter unlike the rest of your crew you would do whatever you can to live. Your type is necessary in the upcoming war. Do not make me think it was a mistake that I chose you, Ryke."

"That's not my name." Iris growled.

"You don't need a name, you only need to obey orders." Marcus replied.

"I'll also do something about that attitude of your, perhaps destroying the USS Enterprise would change your mind."

"The human brain cannot be altered, like Khan, you need both my intellect and savagery." Iris spat.

"Yes, your performance in Qo'noS was one of the reasons I chose you." The admiral mused while Iris stayed silent.

"Sir, we just had a hanger door open on deck 13." An officer interrupted from the door slightly pale when he saw the mangled corpses in the hallway.

Iris hid a smile, _the plan is set in motion._ She heard the admiral giving instructions for the capture and elimination the intruders and laughed silently. _How naïve do you think we are? But to your credit you did teach us all there is to know_.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4. Live, Little Brother

_**AN: So sorry to the readers! I admit I've been neglecting this story but don't worry I'm back again!**_

A technician reported that the phasers were now online and armed and Iris began to worry slightly. Jim, Khan and Spock burst through the door, disarming the crew with the help of Carol Marcus. When Jim gave the signal Scotty shot Khan and noticed Iris sitting motionlessly and silent and called out.

"Iris, lass? What are ya doing here?"

Iris' shook her head, cursing the two stupid idiots for neutralizing Khan. When he wakes up he'll probably be like a raging bull with a **** up his ****.

"Admiral, get out of the chair."

"You better stop and think about what you're doing, Kirk. You'd better think about what you did on Qo'noS. You made an incursion onto an enemy planet! Killed a Klingon patrol. Even if you got away without a trace, war is coming. And who's going to lead us? You? If I'm not in charge, our entire way of life is decimated. So you want me off this ship, you better kill me."

Suddenly one of the crew members attacked Jim and Scotty knocking them both unconscious. _So there are more of _me, Khan shot him and broke his neck making sure he was dead. He then proceeded to stun Carol before unlocking the cuffs on Iris' hands.

"Thank you." She whispered to him and got up facing a stunned Marcus and shrugged. "You were too careless."

Khan strode up to him placing his hands on both sides of Marcus' skull crushing it between his hands enjoying the way he suffered. "You…should have let me sleep!"

Marcus was dead. Iris felt like a weight that had been holding her down was finall y lifted.

"So what are we going to do now?" She asked glancing at the unconscious crew of the Enterprise.

"I will send you and your crew back to the Enterprise while I revive my crew and find peace in a place far away from the eyes of the Federation."

Iris nodded and handed him a folded piece of paper slapping his hand lightly when he tried to open it.

"The coordinates are here but you are not to open it until you beam us back and at least some distance away from us."

"How am I sure that they are there?"

"Scan the ship, no torpedoes. You can always chase after us if you wanted to. And the Federation might send ships after you so it would be best if you lay low instead of starting another unneeded war." Iris shrugged.

"Fine!" Khan grumbled clearly not happy with the situation.

Gold spirals began to surround all the members of the Enterprise and Iris smiled at Khan.

"I wish you luck with your crew." Iris said and watched in astonishment as a smile ghosted onto Khan's lips.

They were teleported right to the brig holding cell and Scotty woke up immediately banging on the glass telling a crew member to let us out. Iris, Jim and Scotty transported the still unconscious Carol to the medbay when suddenly the lights went out and emergency warning lights began flashing. One of the chambers had caught on fire from the previous assault and exploded an engine rendering the whole ship into chaos.

"One day I've been off this ship! One bloody day!" Scotty shouted over the sirens to Iris and Jim as they stumbled through the corridors.

The ship began tilting and the system's voice told the crew to evacuate while all three of them were hanging onto the railings to stop them from sliding.

"There won't be time for evacuation if we don't get power to stabilize the damn ship!"

"Can we restore it?" Jim shouted over the noise.

"Only from engineering! We have to get back to the warp core" Scotty shouted back.

The three slowly got their footing and Scotty was glancing at the ceiling with horror before Iris dragged him away.

"Scotty, come on! We need to get to the warp core!"

They ran on the side walls jumping from one section to another. When they finally got to the engine room a huge explosion shook the ship and the three all lost their balance sending them almost over the edge. Chekov appeared and pulled them back and all three breathed a sigh of relief and began running again.

"Even if we got the warp core online, we've still got to redirect the power!" Scotty remembered.

"He's right, Kaptin!" Chekov shouted.

"What are you talking about?" Iris shouted from behind them.

"Someone has to hit the manual override. Laddie, there's a switch…"

"Behind ze deflector dish! I'll flip ze switch!" The Russian answered and went to up the stairs.

When they got to the manual controls a new voice began to warn from the speakers.

"Core misaligned. Danger."

"Oh no no no no no!" Scotty shouted in alarm.

"What?" Puffed Jim, out of breath.

"The housings are misaligned! There's no way we can redirect the power! The ship's dead, sir. She's gone!"

"No, she's not." Jim took off to the warp chamber.

"Wait, Jim! If we go in there we'll die! You hear me? The radiation will kill us! Will you listen to me? What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm going to open the door. I'm going in."

"That door is there to stop us from getting irradiated! We'll be dead before we make the climb!"

"You not making the climb." Jim said and knock Scotty unconscious.

Iris arrived just as Jim secured the unconscious Scotty to the seat. She slid into the radiation compartment after him and the door sealed shut behind her. Crawling through a tunnel she looked up to see Jim heading for the dislocated injector.

"Jim!" She shouted catching his attention.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Jim shouted angrily.

"Helping you realign the injectors!" Iris yelled back and quickly scaled to the platform.

She helped Jim up and grabbed hold of a bar overhead and began kicking at the injector forcing it to realign. Jim hesitated for a second before joining her.

"You know when I thought we could do a mission together again, I didn't think we would be doing this!" Iris shouted making light of the situation.

"Neither did I but we always get into trouble somehow don't we?" Jim grinned back.

With a final kick, the injectors were aligned and the energy explosion tossed them to the ground. Iris noticed her brother breathing heavily and knew she didn't have much time left to save him. She pulled out a communicator she snatched on her way here and called the bridge.

"Commander Spock this is Admiral Iris Kirk, I order you to turn this ship around to the Io Facility. We are in the core chamber and my brother is dying of radiation poisoning! Khan's blood can be used to regenerate cells and it is available in the Io Facility! Go to the nearest dock, my clearance code is 92-57-10-IK. This is an order from an admiral, the crew of the USS Enterprise turn the damn ship to the coordinates to 23-17-47-11, NOW!" Iris yelled through the communicator.

She pressed another button on her communicator and contacted Bones.

"Bones, this is Admiral Iris Kirk, as the ship lands head to the door on your right labelled Ryke, in there are blood samples of Khan. Do this as quick as you can, I'm not sure how long my core can keep his pulse but Khan's blood would be able to combat the irradiation. Give the crew my thanks, and tell Jamie…sorry and to live life to the fullest."

"Wait what do you mean by…"

Iris crushed the communicator in her hand and glanced back at her little brother dying beside her. She kissed his forehead softly and tears fell from her eyes. Taking out the knife and first aid kit she also snagged from the medbay, she slit open the artificial skin on her chest, glad that the enhancements had steadied her hand and grasped onto the tiny pulse generator and yanked it free from the artilleries and veins connecting to it, the sudden loss of her main core making her weaken slightly. She then slit open a cut in Jim's wrist and placed the core against his vein, watching as it attached itself into the main blood stream. She stitched the cut close and felt a soft pulse restarting in his body and sighed in relief.

"Looks like it's just you and me against the world again, Jamie. Hah, the first time I've used my rank is by using it to get you out of trouble." Iris smiled smoothing out his hair.

"Live, little brother. I had just gotten clearance for the 5 year exploration you dreamed about so don't you die on me yet."

Iris found her vision gradually disappearing and losing the control of her limbs. She could hear the distant hammering on the glass and shouts of her name and Jim's but all that soon faded into nothing. She heard her parents' voice again from the time her father died, like when she was dying in Qo'noS, telling her it was going to be alright. She also remembered Khan from when she first awoken as an Augment.

_I'm__sorry we can't meet again, Khan._


	5. Chapter 5

Final Chapter. A Final Miracle

**_AN: Ok final chapter, might be a sequel depending on the amount of time I have. Currently working on the prequel For The Sake Of Living so make sure to check it out! -GM_**

"Mr Spock? There's a hole in the section where the torpedoes were stored and they were probably blasted off into space during the attack."

Spock acknowledged the information before setting the course to the Io Facility and ran immediately to engineering. He found Scotty crying, nodding to the entrance of the entrance of the warp core chamber. Jim sat there holding Iris against him, tears falling onto her face. Spock saw the blood that had pooled around the Kirk siblings and the wound on her chest that seemed to be self-inflicted that was steadily healing and began piecing everything together.

Now he understood why she had refused medical examination, she was an enhanced version of Khan and his Augments. If Admiral Marcus had been involved, there was no doubt that he had threatened Jim to keep her silent.

The ship landed and Bones and the medical staff hurried into the room that Iris had told Bones and found rows of blood samples which belonged to and files about project Ryke. They immediately begun the blood transfusion of Jim. Iris' body lay on another bed with Carol examining her. Suddenly Carol screamed and everyone's attention turned towards her. Iris' hand was clasping her sleeve and she sat up ripping the pad and circuits connecting to her. Immediately the guards surrounded her and tried to sit her back into the bed but she pushed them away and stumbled to Bones grasping tightly onto his shirt.

"Is he…going to…make it?" Iris' voice sounded slurred and off.

Bones nodded and caught her as she collapsed next to Jim.

"Thank…you."

Tears trickled down from her eyes and she reached Jim's hand and held it between her own. Blood seeped out with her tears and she coughed up blood but her smile was still tranquil as life slipped away from her. The sight of the young admiral's love for her brother even to the point of death had moved everyone to tears even Spock, who always logically statistical had believed that this was a final miracle. The whole ship took a minute of silence to grieve for the young Admiral Kirk who many had known when she was still a lieutenant.

When the USS Vengeance was finally stable under his control and far away from the USS Enterprise and Earth, Khan opened the note Iris had given him.

_Khan, thank you for helping me. Sadly I can't be here to express my feelings for you so I'm writing it down. Your crew has been teleported to "Eden", a planet I had come across during my travels. It's a safe place and very much like earth so you will be able to enjoy it (don't worry there are many apple trees there!), the coordinates are 93-18-77-51. Once again, thanks._

_Our time together was fun, _

_Goodbye_

_IK_

The message left an unsettling feeling in Khan, especially the last part but Khan had to make sure his crew were alright so he set the ship's course to the co-ordinate provided by Iris. The planet was much like earth, supplying oxygen, plant life and animals there resembled Earth but the planet was much smaller. And there, beneath a grove of what seemed to be apple trees were his crew sleeping peacefully in cryotubes. The nagging feeling grew more and more until Khan suddenly remembered something from his first days of awakening spent in a holding cell in Section 31.

_"__So what's your favourite fruit?" _

_"__Apples."_

_The girl behind the glass giggled causing him to smile as well._

_"__Well if I ever find a planet that grows apples I'll send you and your people there. It's a promise."_

_After that, the girl had disappeared. All traces of her vanished, the records were wiped and all that was left seemed like a dream. But now it seems that it wasn't a dream. The girl behind the glass was real and she was Iris Kirk, Project Ryke._

Khan teleported back to the Starfleet Headquarters to find them in the middle of a funeral.

"Iris Kirk is my sister and her loss and that of everyone on board the USS Enterprise saddens us all. She cannot be replaced nor will she ever be forgotten. She was not just the youngest and brightest admiral in Starfleet history, she was a person that supported and fought for what was right and held belief of the good in every being. And she will be forever loved by all."

Khan stood frozen to the spot as others also spoke of the loss of Iris Kirk. He could see her in a funeral casket surrounded by white lilies, her gold hair fanned out and her eyes closed blocking her beautiful grey eyes. Men and women approached her giving her a respectful salute before moving to close the lid. This made him run towards them, ignoring the shocked members of the audience as he ran towards the coffin and pushed the officers out of the way finally reaching Iris. He shook her telling her to wake but she didn't and suddenly he knew why. The buzzing sound of her pulse was gone, instead it came from her brother, Captain Kirk.

"Let go of my sister and let her rest in peace." Jim shouted, drawing his weapon.

Khan ignored him and activated the teleportation device, he cradled her in his arms. Beautiful, foolish and brave she had given up her life for her brother's but that would not be the end for her. It would just be the beginning if he had a hand in it.


End file.
